To Clear One's Conscience
by JojiMC
Summary: In the episode "Camp Castaways", what were the confessions Gwen, Duncan, and Heather made in the treehouse that were never revealed? A mildly dark one-shot.


It was another sunny day on Total Drama Island, and the sky was clear, aside from a few smudges of white. The day marked the challenge for the final five contestants on the "hottest new reality show on television" (according to Chris McLean, the host with a rather unique case of sadism): Gwen, Heather, Duncan, Owen, and Mr. Coconut. Where was this challenge spent?

On a "deserted island", of course.

The contestants resided in a treehouse, where the python that waited outside could not get them. The walls of the treehouse were lined with bunk beds, and the branches that kept the structure upright poked through the floor and ceiling, letting light in. A circular rug, dusty from years of being neglected, covered the middle of the room. A pea green mirror and dresser rested against the main branch to which the treehouse was attached.

Now, the stranded teenagers had been gathered long enough to become extremely tired of one another. Heather had gotten into a spat with Gwen and Duncan, and Owen had burst into a dance in his too-tight loincloth, causing Heather to take a banana from the dresser (where Mr. Coconut sat) and shove it into his mouth. It was effective at stopping his "Owen-gets-jiggy fantasy", but did not solve the problem of finding something to do.

Gwen, Duncan, and Heather stood with itchy feet to get out of there. On the other side, Owen squinted and pulled on his bush of a beard in contemplation of what to do. It was only a few moments before he sprouted the grin of the inspired and raised his arms toward the others. "Guys! You know what we have to do?"

Duncan had his arms crossed. "Run for our lives and leave you and Mr. Coconut behind?"

Owen dropped his gesture. "_No_, we need to confess our sins."

Duncan's light turquoise eyes flashed paler. Gwen jerked her head back, squinting at Owen through one eye. Heather formed a line near her right eyebrow and planted her hands on her hips. "Uh, not!"

Owen closed most of the gap between him and the others. "Oh no, seriously! I confessed all my sins and felt great! Don't you wanna clear your conscience before you die?"

Duncan's and Gwen's gazes flickered toward each other. Heather's stare remained obstinate as a rock. Finally, Duncan backed into a corner and plopped down on a stool. "Well, I'm not going first."

Heather took a stool on the opposite side. "Neither am I."

Gwen flicked her eyes toward the ceiling. "Sure, of course I'll go first. Thanks for asking." She sat on the bunk bed near Duncan and leaned back, bracing her arms by her sides. "If any of you judge me, I'll have you know that I _will_ burn you right back."

"Don't worry, honey, we're cool here," Duncan said, flipping up his hands.

"Did you kill someone by scaring them into thinking you're a vampire?" Heather said. Gwen shot her a look that was sharper than knives, and the other girl smiled sweetly. "Just getting the disses out of my system before you start."

Gwen scoffed before bending forward and resting her chin on one fist. "Here goes."

* * *

"So, my parents divorced the day I turned twelve."

"Wait, they divorced on your_ birthday_?" Duncan rattled his head around. "That's messed up."

"It was my dad's idea," she replied with a sneer. "Anyway, I was pissed off. My year was already off to a sucky start, and I blamed my dad for ruining everything. I wasn't dumb, I knew he was going away to live with a different woman than my mom."

"Isn't that what usually happens?" Heather said, examining her nails. "Someone else comes into the marriage, and it's over."

"I think it's more that people just lose interest in each other. As I was saying, my dad got me under custody. He separated me from my brother, as well as my mom, of course. We drove to his new house, which happened to be half an hour away. I brought my suitcase with me to the door, and you know who greeted me? His girlfriend."

Owen's eyes became bulging spheres. "Oh, snap," Duncan whispered.

Gwen put her hands on her lap, where they vibrated. She clenched them into fists. "I could hardly contain my rage at that point. I made polite conversation through my teeth and headed upstairs as fast as possible, but it wasn't over yet. In my new bedroom, I found a few kids jumping on my bed. They had blonde hair like my dad's girlfriend and brown eyes like my dad. That's when I started to feel sick. They immediately stopped jumping because they were scared of me, but I coaxed them into talking to me like friends. I didn't ask their names, I just asked who their first dad was. They said it was mine."

Owen let out a loud, wheezing gasp. Duncan focused solely on her, his eyes and mouth softened. "Are you sure you're not making this up?" Heather said, eyebrows bending upward; she was afraid that Gwen was not.

Gwen's features wrinkled the way a lion's do before it roars, her teeth flashing in a snarl. "_Do I look like I'm making this up?_"

Heather opened her mouth to answer, but thought better of it and stayed silent.

Gwen unclenched her expression and closed her eyes. "As I was saying. The disgust that I felt toward my dad was overwhelming. Now I _truly_ knew why my mom had been crying every day for the past few months. My dad had completely betrayed her, had given her no consideration whatsoever. I couldn't believe she'd never told me."

She wiggled to adjust herself. "I hatched a plan of revenge. In the evening, when everyone was in their rooms, I dug out matches from the kitchen drawer and some rubbing alcohol. I poured it all over the family photos in the living room and lit them on fire, then left the house with my stuff."

Everyone gawked at her. "You tried to burn their house down?" Duncan yelped.

"No! I knew they would extinguish the fire quickly- that, or the nearby fire department would. I would've done it at night otherwise."

"How much damage was there?" Owen asked.

"Not much, if you think about it. Just the living room was burned, and all the pictures with it."

Duncan leaned his chin on one fist. "You know, this kinda sounds like one of those family dramas on TV. But go on."

She looked at him, a shadow of a smirk gracing her face. "I ran all the way back to my house. My mom was shocked. I told her my dad didn't want me anymore. She called him, and he told her what I did." Her expression clouded over. "She and I got into a huge fight afterward- I was furious she didn't tell me about my dad's family. But we did make up eventually, and my dad released custody over me and moved away with his family."

"Probably because he feared for his and their own safety," Duncan chuckled.

Gwen laughed with a surprising amount of lightness. "You got that right. Anyways, I'm done. Who's next?"

Heather and Duncan locked eyes, daring each other to go. "You've been pretty vocal, Duncan," Heather said. "Have a confession to say?"

He scoffed. "Only after you, sweetheart."

"Ladies first?" Owen said, and Duncan nodded with a thumbs-up toward him.

"Fine, whatever," she said. "I'll be the big girl now." The punk leered at her like a cat, and she smirked back.

* * *

Heather crossed one leg over the other, adopting a stately posture. "Before I start, you should all know that I used to have a boyfriend named Trevor. I thought he was the love of my life, and honestly, I feel stupid for that now."

"Why?" Owen asked, his eyes wide.

"I was getting to that, Owen," she snapped. "Seriously, don't interrupt me."

"People interrupted me, like, thirty times," Gwen said, leaning back on her bed. "You included."

"Well, maybe it's just easier for me to lose my train of thought! Ever think of that?"

Duncan snickered. "Alright, sheesh, we'll stay quiet."

Heather huffed. "The_ reason_ I felt stupid for liking Trevor was because he dumped me the minute he heard the rumor that I was a whore."

Duncan arched one side of his unibrow. "Did you really cheat? If so, getting dumped seems well-deserved."

"Didn't I just say not to interrupt me?" she hissed, leaning forward. "I guess I better get right to the explanation for you guys. Okay, so my parents were seriously getting on my case for dating Trevor. They didn't want me to date until _college_. I concocted a plan to act like a slut and give them a choice to have me stay that way, or let me be with Trevor. I told him my plan, and of course he didn't like it, but he agreed that it was our best shot to stay together. So, I did it. I brought nerds and dweebs to my bedroom and made out with them on the promise that they'd never tell anyone. My mom and dad were horrified, obviously. I told them I broke up with Trevor, and that I was trying to get over him. Still, they weren't convinced that this wasn't just some scheme of mine." Darkness spread over her face, and for a second, she appeared to be connected to a nightmare instead of reality. "I had to resort to desperate measures."

The windows on her eyes closed, making them look vacant. "I invited a jock to my bed, someone who would have experience with going to third base." Gwen, Owen and Duncan all stared at her with the same plain expression, as though not quite believing what she was saying. "Again, I told him not to tell anyone. He asked me about Trevor, and I said not to worry about him." She uncrossed her legs and stared at her hands, flat on her lap. "I should've known he'd get the wrong idea. I told him we had to make enough noise for my parents to open my door and see us, but he seemed to be trying to stay as quiet as possible. I asked him what the big idea was, and that was when he clamped his hand over my mouth."

"Not sure I want to hear anymore," Owen mumbled, touching his ears.

"Listen anyway!" Heather barked. "Since you listened to Gwen's confession, you _have_ to hear mine out too. All of you."

"We're listening," Gwen said softly.

"I screamed into his hand and tried to shove him off, but he was too strong. He's a linebacker on the school football team, that's why." Tears sprung to her eyes, and she wiped her hand across them like they were a nuisance to her. "He raped me. Simple as that."

Duncan's mouth dropped into a capital "o". Owen squeezed his eyes shut over and over, trying to block out what she said and failing. "Wait a second," Gwen said with a deep, dark frown. "What's this guy's name?"

Heather's eyelids dropped like a window shade. "Derrick."

"Derrick's a douchebag," Duncan muttered.

"My parents thought it was just another one of my make-out sessions, so they didn't come in. I never told them the truth. The next day at school-"

"You actually went to _school_ after that?" Gwen said.

She looked at Gwen like she had just asked the stupidest question possible. "Duh, of course I did! I never go down without a fight, even if... you know. He spread a pathetic rumor around that I convinced him to have sex with me, but I planted evidence that he used the school nurse as a sex toy, 'proving' that he was both a liar_ and_ a hypocrite, and voila. Problem solved. The only true consequence of his rumor was that Trevor believed it, because of my plan earlier and the fact that he's on the football team with Derrick. And he broke up with me. He called me all sorts of names and accused me of secretly wanting to get with his fellow teammate." Her eyes drifted aimlessly to the mirror. "And that's why I regret ever liking him. He didn't have faith in me, especially when I needed him the most."

"Well, he did have faith in you before," Owen said, sounding unsure of himself.

"No, he didn't." A stuffy silence filled the room. Gwen, Owen, and Duncan glanced at each other, then back at Heather. Owen stepped toward her, raising his arms a quarter of the way up. She turned her gaze to him. "Don't."

He slid back into place. "It's your turn now," Gwen said, looking sideways at Duncan.

He sighed, looking genuinely tired. "Do I have to?"

"You better, or else," Heather snapped.

"Or else what?" he said, but his tone was half-hearted.

"Or else we'll throw you to the python."

"Fine, fine." Duncan put his arms on his knees and hunched himself over. "It's story time, folks. And today's tale is a little something I like to call, 'My Journey to Juvie'."

* * *

"It was a night like any other. I was hanging out with my neighborhood gang as their newest recruit. I had originally proved my worth by hotwiring a rusty old Civic, and now they wanted to see me do it again. Except this time, they wanted me to steal a brand new Mustang. Now, keep in mind that I was only thirteen and didn't have nearly as much experience with stealing cars as I do now. So when they brought me to the car, I had some trouble getting it to start. But the thing is, that was what they intended to happen."

Gwen sucked in her breath. "They framed you?"

"Yup," he said, popping the "p" in his mouth. "The cops came soon enough. I was so absorbed in my work that I didn't notice the others were gone until I heard the sirens and looked up. By then, I was done. I was practically shaking with fear and adrenaline, which led me to do the stupidest thing ever. I jumped into the driver's seat and stepped on it."

"Tsk tsk, that really is stupid," Heather said, shaking her head. "You should've just given yourself in."

"I don't know why I didn't. I was just an idiot in general. Anyway, since I sucked at driving, I was swerving around the streets like_ crazy_. I knocked down a fire hydrant, crashed into a telephone pole, and nearly killed a whole bunch of pedestrians. I drove so fast, I didn't even notice a car come in front of me until it was- well, right in front of me. There was no time to react. I crashed into the car and wrecked it, and the woman inside had to go to the emergency room. I somehow got out with only a broken leg, wrist, and a whole lotta cuts and bruises, but it was still the worst day of my life." He let out a sigh with a shaky undercurrent, rubbing the back of his head. "I got sent to juvie, and eventually to court after all my wounds were treated. Obviously, a ton of crimes were hanging over my head, not to mention the lady I crashed into sued me for hundreds of thousands of dollars. My parents_ officially_ hated me now, not that they didn't before. But thanks to them being renowned police officers, my sentence only ended up being a year in juvie."

"Then why are you still in there?" Owen said, curving an eyebrow.

Duncan's eyes flashed like icicles. "Other stuff."

Gwen brought herself up from leaning position, staring at him. "Whoa! So _that's_ what you went to juvie hall for."

He nodded, his mouth in a tight grimace. "Yeah, but at least it's not as bad as what _Heather_ did."

"I admit it was a little unorthodox, but it doesn't come close to what _Gwen_ did," Heather said, squinting at Gwen with condemnatory eyes. "If that's even your real name." Gwen crossed her legs and averted her gaze to the floor.

Owen hopped onto the bottom bunk next to Heather and lay down. "There. Don't you feel better now?"

Gwen, Duncan, and Heather looked at each other, and in a few seconds, reached a consensus: to clear one's conscience really did not do much. And they also unknowingly shared the same thought: _Wherever he is, Chris better not air my confession on the show._

* * *

**Hope you liked this! Gwen's, Heather's, and Duncan's confessions are basically backstory events I made up for them that contribute to their current behavior. Gwen's and Heather's are somewhat darker versions of my headcanons for them, but Duncan's is completely the same.**


End file.
